Business Coaching

Like this article? PLEASE +1 it!

Business Coaching Tagged Articles

Analyzing the Power Struggle and Office Politics

Office politics can get messy. Make no mistake about it: no matter where you go in the world, you will always find political turmoil. Man and womankind are ego-driven creatures and will typically fight viciously when threatened. What can you do as an innocent bystander? You must find a compromise between playing the politician (which is always a risky game) and being a docile worker (who is frequently taken advantage of).

Managing a Coaching Business Abroad

Time and how to best use it is always a consideration for most entrepreneurs. When your business forces you to work abroad there are considerations, when managing a coaching business abroad, there are even more. Your time is your commodity and in order to instill value in your product, you will have to make sure that you are organized, multitasked and the time you spend on task is quality time. Most people who begin a business coaching abroad, be these motivational speakers, sales coaches or even business consultants, have visions of travelling to overseas destinations and relaxing on the beach in between their duties. For the most part they are only half right; they will be doing a lot of flying.

The Art of Accountability

Each of us works stronger, steadier and more successfully when we add the Arty of Accountability to the mix of our life. It can be the one piece missing for many Entrepreneurs. Accountability can show up in Coaching and Masterminding with others of a like mindset. It is an art form in that is requires us to open our mind to the possibilities and then get really good at it. To in fact let it flow as easily as breathing some days.

How To Communicate Better With A Business Partner

About one-third of our business coaching clients have involved situations where there are multiple owners in the business. This has included spouses, siblings, parents & kids, in-laws, friends, and business acquaintances. One of the biggest struggles with multiple owners is getting all the owners on the same page. When the business is first formed, everyone is usually on the same page. But as the months and years go by, it's easy to drift apart. Here are a couple of keys for better communication with your business partner: 1. Understand Behavior Styles 2. Keep The Appointments 3. Do What You Say You're Going To Do 4. If You Feel It, Say It

How To Evaluate Your People In 2 Simple Steps

The world is filled with all kinds of assessment tools and ways to analyze your current or potential employees and it can get overwhelming in a hurry. We're big on keeping things simple. Whether it be in life or in our business coaching practice when advising our clients. Basically you can evaluate your people in two broad categories: i) Skills, and ii) Attitude. It boils down to this: 1. If someone has the wrong skills AND they have a bad attitude, YOU SHOULD GET RID OF THEM IMMEDIATELY! 2. If someone has EITHER great skills or a great attitude, then should invest in improving the weak area (i.e. the skills or the attitude). 3. If someone has BOTH the skills and the attitude, promote them as fast as you can and include them in as many things in your organization as you can. This is someone you want in your organization.

How To Find Good People
One of the most common question we get from both our business coaching clients as well as from business owners we meet is, "how do I find good people?" Ever tried volunteering for a community or non-profit group? Whether you're someone looking for good people or you are a good person looking for work, one of the most overlooked recruiting tools is volunteering.

6 Business Coaching Tips
Do you have a routine to follow with each new business coaching client, or new team member? These are the steps I follow, to ensure that I don’t miss an important step in laying the foundations for their future success, and the success of our coaching.

11 Rules for Selling to a Skeptic
Let us examine eleven of the fundamental techniques used by those who succeed in persuading the worst of cynics.

Accelerate Your Growth with Business Coaching
For many entrepreneurs, business planning is not their area expertise, so they often feel overwhelmed, procrastinate, and focus on the wrong things. This inadequate planning ends up costing them tens-, hundreds-of-thousands, or even millions of dollars. Learn how planning with business coaching can dramatically accelerate your company's growth and profitability.

Finding the Right Business Partners
The right partner can ease the road and multiply the profïts of your business. Whether you are looking for investment funds, advice, a complementary skill set, or helpful associations, these insights will help you choose your releationships wisely.

How to Motivate Under-Performing Personnel

It is no secret that the performance of personnel is the largest contributing factor to the long-term success of any organization. Managers may give direction, but in the end, it is the company’s staff that determines how well it executes. It is the staff that must respond to the threat of competition and the shifting interests of shareholders and consumers. Taking this into consideration, one of the greatest challenges facing managers is motivating their personnel to achieve outstanding performance. Whether you are a first-time or veteran manger, these simple strategies will serve as a primer to put you on the right track.

Victim or Victor: Is Your Small Business Prepared to Profit in a Recession?
With volatile financial markets, tight credit, rising inflation, high fuel and commodity prices, small business owners and consumers are facing what many are calling a "historic financial crisis." However, this crisis presents the opportunity of a lifetime for prepared small business owners. The decisions you make now will determine the future success of your business.

The One Question You Can't Avoid...
Where ever you go in the future from a business function to a leisurely round of golf, your future success may depend entirely on one single question... It's the one question that you simply can't avoid.

When is Business or Executive Coaching NOT appropriate?
You are passionate to develop your staff and want to Coach them to success. However there are three key situations where Coaching may not be the most appropriate tool to use. Keep these three scenarios top of mind before jumping into a Coaching session with your staff.

10 Keys to Business Growth in a Shifting Economic Landscape…
Valuable tips to grow your business in an ever changing market.

About Somatic Business Coaching
Traditional business coaching has long been recognized as a powerful catalyst for developing the skills of successful leadership. Somatic business coaching unites the power of traditional business coaching with the wisdom of somatics, or the wisdom of the entire body, mind and spirit.

The Power of Being Grateful

In this session, we are going to talk about applying the seventh principle in our lives. In my business coaching we have seven principles that can change companies life to connect with their employee’s. My coaching sessions offer many different ways to connect and have a strong bond with your employees and have positive results in their life. I feel that all the articles feed off of one another; I believe that they all will benefit a business owner in a positive way. If you apply the principles in your life they will change your business destiny forever.

The One Response Your Prospect Wants To Hear...
Today’s marketplace is an endless sea of meaningless marketing messages and hollow promises. So, when it’s your turn to pitch your product or service... will you be able to deliver the one response that your prospect absolutely wants to hear?

Transformational Benefits of Hiring a Professional Image Consultant

How we dress and present ourselves to potential employers during an interview plays an integral role in whether or not we are offered a job, or politely shown the door with the famous one liner "we will call you if something comes up" do those words ring a bell? If so, you might have underestimated how important impeccable grooming and strategic visual presentation can be, besides your portfolio of clients and stellar job references.

To Blog or Not to Blog? The Business Owner’s Zillion Dollar Question! (Part 1)
At a recent business coaching gig for the KBN Ashgrove Network I talked about blogging. So many business owners think they ‘should’ blog but in truth have no idea of where to start, why they are doing it or how to have their blog generate results.

Distance Christian Business Coaching Saves Time and Money

Do you understand how effectively Distance Coaching will save you time and money as you more quickly and easily enhance your personal, professional or business development and operational skills? If you are like most Christian business owners, executives and managers who earn a living operating in a secular business or professional environment, you may often find your character and behavioral integrity under fire in ways that deter your optimum expression of competence. There is help for you through developing a distance coaching relationship with a seasoned Christian Business Coach. Read on to explore how the coaching process works and to take the simple survey to determine if you are presently ready to participate in a coaching relationship.

Five things you should do right now to keep your small business growing

This has been one tough year for business. The economic storms have hit virtually every industry and every market and taken a heavy toll. But still, there are plenty of businesses who are doing well, and some are going strong. What is it that makes those businesses so successful in trying times like these? Certainly there are many factors, but here are five common factors that you are likely to find in every one of those standout businesses. Learn these five and your chances for success will go up.

Business Coaching for Effective Leadship
While leadership is easy to explain, it’s not so easy to practice. Leadership is about behaviour first, skills second. Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them. Leadership differs to management, which relies more on planning, organisational and communications skills.

Effective Team Coaching
People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, but few understand team work or how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself; understanding the mission or objectives of your organisation.

Coaching in Relation to Behavioural Styles and Patterns

When considering the effects of behaviour in business, business coaches have long used behavioural profiling tools like DISC, to produce data which equips them to work with business owners, enabling them to get their staff to understand their own behaviour, recognise the behaviour of people they interact with and then adapt accordingly. This increases their credibility and improves communication. Of course, this relates to the team as a whole, and recent research suggests that improvements in this area can have a significant affect on bottom line profits.

Ad Hoc Business Networking for Coaches
Ad Hoc Networking - Make it work for you!!! In the last 15 years networking has become popular as a lead generation strategy. I generate at least 2 qualified leads from every business event I attend. I call this ad hoc networking.

Key Management Development Secrets - Coaching Is Learning Through Challenge
There are times in any managers career when the pressure sets in and it becomes easier to fire answers out. We all have been there and appreciate that there can be days just like that. To minimize this, there's an investment to be made...

The Power of Online Coaching

Many people are spending vast periods of time online for a range of reasons for example work, study, personal growth or just for fun. Life coaching online programs are an obvious option for those people who wish to develop their personal success and would like the flexibility of doing so online. So what can life coaching online offer? Really this depends on the coach provider, I offer personal (life) coaching and business coaching services online. The advantage to prospects is that this is a lower cost option that paying for my 1 to 1 time. There is no limit to the coaching activities you can source online and this is done by a variety of ebooks, video presentations and workbooks. Generally the client simply logs online at a time convenient to themselves from wherever suits them and works through the online coaching program.

Areas in Business Coaching for Post-Retirement Career
If you are a senior executive with many rich years of experience behind you, which area of business coaching would be available for a post-retirement career? The Coach shares some of his ideas in this article.

The Truth about Mondays by Linda J Lord
The Pitch: How soccer strategies relate to success in business and life.

10 Business Building Tips from 5 Successful Entrepreneurs

It’s no secret that in order to grow your business, you have to take thoughtful, consistent action. Business success doesn’t happen overnight and there are many, many roads to get there. Here are 10 business building tips from four of my super successful colleagues (including two from me). You can get a lot more in a brand new free ebook we’ve put together for you called From Zero to Six Figures – FAST!

Do you know the Selling Process Formula?
In order to create a selling process there are specific questions you can ask to help people move through a co-creational energetic process.

Try This Team Building Outline!
How to build a team that strengthens your business offering through networking.

How To Discover The Social Media Fit!

Every week it seems there is another channel we can use to market our companies. Social Media for one appears to be leaping on to the stage at every opportunity. My inbox is constantly pushing out new sites to sign up to in the promise of delivering to us a new and exciting piece of business. I'm sure, like me, you wonder is it worth all the hype and will they get me any more notice than what I am experiencing with my current nest of sites.

Ask and Discover A Stronger Brand Inspiration

The next installment of my eInterview series is on it's way to this blog. The next interview is with PR guru Drew Gerber and his perspective on the value of your brand in relation to public relations. I am enjoying this effort. It's fun to have people I admire give me their thoughts on branding. What I find especially rewarding is the fact these individuals are so open and willing to share their thoughts with us.

Compliance smells like money.

Compliance is defined as "the act of complying to another one's wishes; acquiescense." In the case of businesses it is the government or a professional organization's wishes that are being adhered to. In most cases it is quite an expensive exercise, that is punctuated with regular audits and scrutiny. Processes are typically put into place that validates criteria and assures the complier that all is well with the company.

Branding Voodoo That'll Smoke The Competition
There are lots of ways that you can approach your brand to make it more effective. Some can be costly, while many are simple and relatively inexpensive. It is the latter that I will outline for you today. They don't take much thought or effort but can impact your brand in a big way.

How Your Brand Values Strengthen Your Business.

How fast do you return a telephone call or an email from a potential lead? I ask myself this every time a lead remarks to me, how quickly I responded. I wonder if perhaps most businesses do NOT return contacts as fast as they could. I try to respond the moment I get a contact. Even if I am busy, I at least try to respond and inform them that I will return their call when I have time enough to respond properly.

Three Common Marketing Mistakes
All businesses make marketing mistakes. By identifying some of the most common mistakes, you will be more likely to avoid these mistakes in your business.

60-Second Commercial
At some point during a networking event, you will have a chance to talk about your business - whether it's a formal part of the event where you speak in front of everyone or it's during informal one-on-one conversations. You need to have a 60-second commercial prepared and memorized before attending the event so that you can easily, calmly, and succinctly talk about your business.

Appreciating Your Team
Recognizing your team members for their contributions is an important part of leadership. When people are properly recognized, they are likely to continue engaging in business with you.

Are You Building Bridges of Influences?
There is a good chance that you already know who your target market is and that you are already attending networking events to find that target market. Though, many business owners who I work with fail to pay attention to events where they will find people who can be their Bridges of Influence.

ARE YOU GUILTY OF THESE 7 BIG TIME KILLERS? by Ed Abel
There are plenty of ways to fritter away the day, that’s for sure. And after years of experience building my own businesses and then helping others build theirs, I found the following seven suspects guilty of killing time.

Collect Your (Good) Marbles
When two companies are similar, it's the little things that differentiate them. If your company is similar to your competitors, things such as smiles, warm greetings, or eye contact might just tip the balance in your favor.

Confessions of an Accidental Entrepreneur

I'm going to tell you a story about an Accidental Entrepreneur. The accidental entrepreneur was a highly skilled intravenous nurse who thought he could do a better job administering Intravenous Therapy services than the organization he worked for. So he borrowed $5,000 and started his own business providing intravenous services to patients in their homes. Because he took the risk of starting a business, he believed he was an "entrepreneur."AE

Customer Loyalty and Chinese Food
A little story about customer service.

From Complaint to Raving Fans
One of the hallmarks of world-class customer service is how your company manages customer service failures. When a customer speaks up with a complaint, it's time to listen. Think of the complaint as a gift, and you will see it as an opportunity to learn rather than something to avoid or resist.

Getting Your Horse (Customers) to Drink Water
You may have heard the old adage of marketing and sales. Marketing is leading your horse to water. Sales is getting your horse to drink. The question we all want to know is how to get your horse to drink.

How Does Your Service/Product Benefit Your Client?

In order to be successful with your marketing and sales efforts, you must be clear and confident in knowing, discussing, and delivering the benefits of your services or product. Many sales people and business owners know their facts and features very well. Unfortunately, those alone will not always lead to a sale. To ensure more sales, you must also be able to communicate the benefit of the product or service.

Knowing Your Products and Services

Your products or services are the heart and soul of your business; without them, your business cannot exist. Much like the human body, a healthy heart is imperative to a healthy body. Although there are other organs and appendages that carry out the bodyâ€™s functions, none of those can be completed without a functional, intact heart. As the business owner, you must become in tune with every facet of your business. Letâ€™s apply this to your business:

Product Differentiation: "A Success Story"
Just how did Howard Schultz pull of selling a cup of coffee for $3 to millions and millions of people?

Run Your Business; Don't Let it Run You
One of the most important principles of being a business owner is to run your business; don't let it run you. To run your business is to create a vision of what is possible - a vision that's bigger than doing the day-to-day work associated with your skill or trade.

Seven Fundamental Marketing Principles
Marketing is defined as a suite of principles and strategies you use in your business to persuade your target market to contact your business. Marketing is beneficial to your business because it:

Summer is Ending...Are You on Target to Boost Sales?

How are your summer sales? Are you moving forward or have you become a victim of summertime sales slowdown? Sure, customers and clients go on vacation, you go on vacation, and life in general slows down during the summer. But to boost sales this fall, you need to do some work nowï¿½even if your sales are up. (You want to increase sales, donï¿½t you?) Here's the one thing small business owners must do before summer ends...

Taking Aim with your Business
At the start of a new year, it's a good idea to take stock of your business by reviewing your Vision, Mission, and your Main Business Goals.

The 5 Practices of Wildly Successful Entrepreneurs by Ed Abel
It's Time to Face the Truth. Are you an "Entrepreneur" or a "Skillpreneur"?

THE 5 REASONS SUPERSTAR ATHLETES' HAVE A SECRET WEAPON-AND WHY YOU SHOULD TOO!

Question: What is the one thing Superstar Athletes have in common? Answer: A COACH ! Actually, they have a number of coaches, as well as advisors, to handle the different aspects of their personal and professional lives. Can you image Derek Jeter doing his taxes, negotiating his contract, or acting as his own financial expert? I'm not saying Jeter's not informed, what I am saying is that he hires experts, so he can focus on and practice what he does best: play baseball. If you want to play in the "big leagues" and build a superstar business, do what professional athletes do: get coached. Professional athlete or small business owner, here's what a coach can do for you:

The Evolution of Your Business
Your business has evolved, and it will continue to evolve, as long as you let it. It is part of the evolution of who you are and what you are becoming. It is part of the evolution of your skills, knowledge, experience, beliefs, purpose, and dreams.

The Keys to Business Success
Dun & Bradstreet reports that "businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years (of business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years." The Lessons in this article, The Six P's of Success, are dedicated to helping you thrive, not just survive in your business.

What You Need to Know About Marketing!
If you're like most small business owners, you have a basic understanding of marketing and why you need to do it. However, most small business owners these days are forgetting the basic goal that effective marketing will archive and are reducing their marketing efforts because of an "economic downturn."

Money Mindset for the Small Business Owner
Making money is probably a big part of why you are in business. In business, as in life, money matters. With it, you can make a difference; without it, youâ€™re limited in what you can do.

How to close the deal with an effective Sales Conversation
Sales are a key component to building a thriving business. However, many people who start businesses are not natural sales people. If you find yourself in this category, try following the below step-by-step sales process. Though you'll need to adjust it for your particular business, it will provide you with a framework to closing more sales.

Five ways to use a special offer

Special offers are the only thing left when you run out of time and still have a hill to climb to reach your sales target. It seems a really dumb thing to do because the people whom you send the offers to are likely to become conditioned to the special offer rates. Worse, they get to know when the end of your measurement period is and wait for the offers! The article gives the five best ways of using special offers.

Making a difference – Business Coaching with EFT
Finding new ways to speed up the resolution of emotional hang ups! Emotional Freedom Techniques is a great way to get to core issues that undermine a persons efforts to work and live in harmony.

We All Need Mentors
Almost all successful individuals in sports, film, and business have had mentors.

How To Beat The Odds And Win The Recession Marketing Challenge
Are you struggling to find success with your marketing campaigns? Here's how to beat the odds and win the recession marketing challenge...

Your Key To Attracting More Customers…
Is your business doomed to forever compete at the slimmest of profit margins as it vies for the title of being the "low price" leader? By learning how to garner more of the right clientele for your business, you can attract more customers and make more money than ever before...

50/50 Never Works in Relationships

The old cliche in order to make it work we have to have a 50/50 deal. You have to do your part and I have to do mine. We have to split things evenly. This business partnership will only work if it is 50/50. This marriage will only work if it is 50/50. Otherwise it is never going to work. Any of that sound familiar to you? We have heard that one before. Of course we have. Yet things don't work when we give 50 and the other person gives 50. Trust me. We tried it in business. We tired it in marriage. And what we have found to many times is that things still don't work. Why?

TIME, TIME, TIME ….IS NOT ON MY SIDE!

Many say the WORLDS GREATEST ROCK N’ ROLL BAND is the Rolling Stones! Mick Jagger and the boys once had a big hit whose lyrics went, “Time, Time, Time, is on my side, Yes it is….” With all due respect to the wisdom of Rock N’ Roll, I believe that the Stones were dead wrong! If they were right then why do so many of my business coaching customers say that they never have enough time to get everything done that they need done. Why do they say that life would be so much better if they just had 25 hours in a day?

EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS A CEO!
The idea of the value of a title in business today is debated far and wide and I agree in most cases titles are important, however for successful businesses in today's rocky business environment are discovering the need for the changing meaning of certain titles or the addition of certain titles to the necessary line up of key employees in their organization. The new thoughts may surprise you!

It's Not Easy Being Lucky
It's not easy being lucky. Not easy at all. Most people that are considered lucky...created their perception of being lucky because they had the discipline to consistently apply skills; knowledge and work ethic to their lives and overnight (years later) they're lucky. In this article we'll examine a list of exactly what it takes to earn the right to "Be Lucky".

Where Baseball Meets Business

Sometimes I think that we make business success all too hard! In most cases the basics are ignored in favor of the latest new and usually complex strategy, theory or latest best seller unveiling the new secret success silver bullets. But sometimes, most of the time in fact, if we just slow down and face the fact that the truth may be in the simplicity of the solution. Simple is not always easy. Simple is not always cool or flashy. But, SIMPLE works! In this article we'll briefly discuss 3 key rules that could become your benchmark for future personal and business growth.

The Need for a Skill
Dealing with harassment and bullying within a workplace is sometimes a motivation problem as well as an ability problem.

Destination - The Journey
Success is always in the journey

Equipping Your People for Success
Success in business is all about equipping your team to achieve excellence in their work.

Execution - The Power of Getting Things Done.
The biggest frustration in life is - all talk and no action. We are all goal setting machines and like to know we are making progress. Maximum progress is directly proportional little to no frustration

Good to be Great

It seems like the market has shifted in a positive direction people in business have energy about moving forward. The media have also maintained their consistent 'doom and gloom' outlook, but now it relates to concerns about increasing interest rates! So it must be a good time to grow! Having said that there are a number of lessons to be learnt from recent times in what works and causes sustainability - and what will likely not last.

Inspiring Generation Y
A different approach will get a much better result!

Developing Outstanding Employees
If your workplace environment is 'just a job' then you need to change the environment. If there is no change in environment there will definitely be no change in behaviour!

Building Character - Move up when the pressure is on

Whilst it seems that the current financial situation was in some ways inevitable, it has created a fervour among the press somewhat like seagulls around a discarded packet of chips on the beach! We've heard the term 'bad news sells' and have proven the point repeatedly over the last few months. The challenge this creates within organisations is that it causes 'politics' and infighting because of uncertainty. Peoples' performance will suffer and decisions become clouded by personal needs rather than benefiting organisational goals and direction.

Laser Like Focus
Teams that are aligned are happy and perform at a consistently higher level

Leaders Build TRUST
The primary role of a leader is to build an extraordinary team. And extraordinary teams sre built upon a high level of trust.

Leadership in Business and Personal Growth
With leadership in business and n life comes accountability and the need for integrity. Leadership is more a way of life than a title. With accepting the resonsibility of leadership comes the positive impact [ot otherwise] that your decisions will have upon your people

Maintianing Good Organisational Health
6 years on and the business of coaching is a constant learning curve. There is an endless supply of variables which makes what we do always interesting, challenging and never dull.

Managing and Maintaining Performance
The art of building and maintaining teams and managing and maintaining performance is exactly that - an art! For some it is impossible, others a mystery, and yet for some it is second nature!

Managing Change
Managing Change is all about organisational development. Change itself is simple - people adapting to change can be complex and frought with frustration.

Permission to Succeed
Our people know how to 'maintain' but are often never taught to win. Create maximum performance by creating an environment whereby high performance is the standard

Purpose is the Starting Point of Success
Establish you purpose - Individuals, businesses and organisations with a clear sense of purpose experience significant growth and success

Succession and Leaving a Legacy
Succession is always a challenge in business - it needs to become a planned process of continuity. It's a bit like carrying a serviceable spare tyre in your car. You never planed to have a flat tyre but you did plan to get there regardless!

The Art of Relationships within Organisations
Building relatinships with the [right] people in organisations is vital to success. Leadership and friendship do indeed go hand in hand.

The Art of Strategic Thinking
When it comes to thinking, planning, and acting strategically, few companies actually succeed! Having said that these companies can still run well, maintain, grow, and be present in the marketplace. But these companies will never be great! They will never be extraordinary places to work, nor will they be outstanding companies to do business with.

The Power of Influence
There are numbers of signs in the market right now that for many indicate that 2010 will be much improved on 2009! What this means is that the 'headlights' of new opportunities will be back on again and it is business as usual.

The Power of Prioritising
As we reflect back on 2009, it was a year of change and uncertainty. Many organisations could be compared to a sporting team under pressure. When the market is going their way then everything is working and confidence is high. However when the pressure is on the weaknesses become very apparent and the cracks starts to appear.

Transforming Performance by Improving Thinking.
Great leaders get the people to become leaders themselves by getting them to be great thinkers and problem solvers.

What Running a Business is all about
What does it take to get a business actually working for you? The management of more than just a business is the management of time and what happens in that time. It is also simply a matter of changing beliefs.

Lexington
The Living Years

Make it a Really Good One
Our lives are the sum total of the choices we make and the things we do each day.

Why Me?
Why are bad things happening to me?

Gratitude
If you observe your emotions quite carefully, you may notice that emotions shift and change like the weather.

Trust in a New Age
Steven Covey [junior] wrote a very interesting and engaging book called "The Speed of Trust" - the one thing that changes everything!

Is Personal and Business Coaching Alive in Ireland?
A common concern amongst Coaches in the current climate is the lack of data outlining whether or not people are looking for Coaching. If people are looking for Coaches; what type and where? Unfortunately, there is no empirical data to suggest whether or not the coaching industry is growing or if coaching is being embraced by the Irish public and businesses.

High Performance
After recently discussing with a client their high performance model, I realised that it may not actually be one!

Motivation and Ability
The 'Influencer' program from VitalSmarts talks about people doing things for two reasons - they want to do and / or they can. In other words they are motivated to do something, or they feel they are able to.

PLANNING FOR SUCCESS – PART 2 – CLARITY IN YOUR BUSINESS

The #1 reason business fail today is a distinct lack of clarity…in everything about their business! In today’s market we see businesspeople that have been in business twenty years or more who will fail due to a lack of clarity about their business or about marketing their business. If you haven’t noticed, how we conduct business is changing drastically almost daily and it will continue to change. New options; new technology; smarter customers and an uncertain economic environment all contribute to this tsunami of change. In order to do effective planning it is essential to have total and complete clarity about all facets of your business in order to plan accurately.I have listed seven questions that I always work my business coaching customers through when going through the Clarity exercises for our planning sessions.

PLANNING FOR SUCCESS – PART 1 – PURPOSE

How was this year for you and your business? That’s the question that every business owner is or should be asking themselves at this time of year. Unfortunately a very high percentage of business owners are afraid of the answer so the questions are avoided. Now is the time that you must, however face the facts. Did I have a good year? Did I have a bad year? What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What can I do better? Now is the time to ask the question and begin planning. The time to begin planning is not mid January, it is now. This will be the first in a series of article on planning for growth and success in business and your personal life.This article is the first of four that will discuss those critical and sometimes hard to face questions that might separate you from those in business and those going out of business

Does your website content grab visitors' attention?
The purpose of your professional website is to capture potential prospects' attention and cause them to take specific action. If your website content doesn't speak directly to potential clients, they'll click away, never to be seen again. Read on to learn how you can make your website content more effective, starting today!

Clarity, Commitment and Consistency Create Effective Communication
Effective communication is an ongoing challenge. Possibly by employing clarity, commitment and consistency can help improve communication.

Never Give Up
Current times are tough, but seem to be getting better now. It usually takes many contact to make a sale.

SO, you want to be Wealth, do you?

Just as the old blues song goes, "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die!" So goes wealth. It seems today everyone wants to be rich but few want to work for it. Today the best way to control your destiny and to build equity for yourself is to work for yourself. In today's uncertain economic times, jobs are precious and the "protected" job is something of a dinosaur. You simply must get yourself into a situation where you control your destiny. It's getting scary when companies cut staff hours to 39 hours a week so they don't have to pay benefits. Or, loyal employees are laid off weeks before retirement benefits kick in. Or in some highly publicized cases where long term employees lose everythin

Walk of Gratitude
Practice your 'Walk of Gratitude' and experience very positive 'what goes around comes around'!

Where Does Winning More Sales in Business Start?
Winning! What a great word. To explore winning more sales in business begins with a sound business model. In the book, "Corporate Canaries," Gary Sutton addressed the warning signs when your current business model is not working.

The Desire to Increase Sales Is Reflected In Knowing Sales and Other Critical Numbers
Do you know your sales numbers along with the number of days remaining before the end of the quarter to the end of the year? Knowing your numbers is critical because your business operates in the global economy. As each day starts, means that you have just 86,400 seconds less to achieve your goal to increase sales.

The Final Ingredient in Success is - Sharing
Sharing your success. Sharing what you learned. Sharing your abilities. Sharing your money. Sharing your time. And just plain sharing what you have with others.

Real Leadership Requires Absolutes
You can't lead by being afraid of what people will think of the decision. You have to learn early that leadership requires some people not liking the decisions you make. You can't lead from a seesaw - you have to be able to stand firm. Nothing worse than a leader who keeps changing his/her mind and never seems to stand for anything. Leadership requires earned respect.

Benefits of Receiving Coaching
If you are going through change or a difficult time coaching can help you work your way through the situation by helping to derive solutions and possibly to think of ones which you would never have explored before.

Leader or Liar?
Do you think leaders are liars? A recent PBS show investigated the question - "Are leaders good liars?" According to psychologist Carrie Keating's experiments in human behavior - "the findings seem to demonstrate a correlation between persuasive abilities and dominant behavior."

Lonely at the Top
Are you "working through it?" Lately it seems that so many people in leadership positions are taking inventory of what it means to be a leader. Some are fleeing the role.

Will Someone Please Disagree?
When was the last time you openly disagreed with someone above you in your company? When was the last time someone openly disagreed with you? Why has it become standard practice for many to act as drones and nod their heads in unison, even at the most senior levels?

How Do You Define Success?
The modern dictionary defines success as: to gain wealth or fame. Early American leaders held a puritanical belief that success was a sign of God's favor. Ben Franklin wrote that "the pursuit of wealth was virtuous and would lead to success."

We Have an Ethical Dilemma!
Our finest business schools are beefing up their ethics programs in response to the erosion of corporate ethics that has resulted in the recent high profile debacles, right? Guess again...

Get Your Priorities Straight!
Lately, I have been amazed at the answers I get when I query executives about their priorities. Many utter a reference to "objectives" that sounds good, but soon they discover that their answers do not clarify what their priorities are that day. They often are not clear on what actions they need to focus on today that will lead to success tomorrow.

Finding True North With the Help of a Child
"Dad, I want you to have this" my young son said as he held up a toy compass to place in my hands. "You can keep it on your desk so that you'll always know where you are and what direction to head in." It was one of those priceless parenting moments.

Crisis Reveals Human Potential
It's impossible to describe the terror I felt as the car began to slide sideways. Even going only 2-3 miles per hour I was helpless to stop the car.

I Need You For a Mission!
What is your Mission in life? Yes, it's a heavy question but one worth asking yourself. Have you spent time thinking about what gifts you possess and how to utilize those gifts to the best of your ability?

Decisions, Decisions

Do you ever wonder why decisions you make foster reactions that you never dreamed of? In a Hay Group research brief entitled "Executive Blind Spots," the results of a large survey concluded that the higher executives rose within an organization; • The more they over-rated themselves compared to how they were rated by others, and; • The wider the gap between how they saw themselves and how their peers, subordinates, and managers viewed them. Individual contributors and lower level managers, in contrast, showed no significant gaps between how they and others rated them.

The Coaching Fallacy What it is and what it isnt
There is much confusion about what Coaching is- and isn’t. Many consulting firms have simply gone through their marketing materials and changed the word “consulting” to “coaching.” For many in the business world, that sums up what they perceive Coaching to be, a new word for consulting. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Double your Income in 2 years

If you are a business owner or sales person, this article will appeal to you. You both earn your income from selling, so I guess you want to earn a few bucks more! What is it that sees two equally qualified people going into similar sales calls, with one of them consistently outselling the other? I did this when I was in sales, but at the time, I did not know what precisely I was doing right. This sent me on a search of a system; so that I could help other people model this success. What you will read here is a summary of a fool proof system, created from the very best life coaches, sales trainers and business gurus on this planet, both dead and alive!

Real Estate Marketing Strategies: What is the Difference between Accountability Coaching and Mindset Coaching?
Have you tried business coaching and found it ineffective? Maybe you need to consider the different types of coaching and find the right type for you.

Defining the Entrepreneur

How do you define an entrepreneur? Some would say that an entrepreneur is a well financed businessperson, who launches a new business with $20M in venture capital funding. Others would say an entrepreneur is anyone with a great idea and a folding table, a cell phone, and a computer in their garage! Both descriptions might be correct, but that does not really get to the heart of the matter of what truly defines the entrepreneur. This article examines three of the key elements that truly define the true entrepreneur in todays business climate!

Business to Business Franchises
This article discusses the relative advantages and disadvantages of Business to Business franchises. It also discussed the growth in this sector and the comparative investment ranges.

How to Become the A Plus Professional Salesperson Who Wins More Sales
Would you like to be the A plus professional salesperson in your organization that wins more sales? What does that mean for you? More money? More recognition? Greater peace of mind? So what do you need to do to become that person?

How to Win More Sales Is by Knowing Where to Find the Best Help
Do you know where to find the best help to increase sales. Maybe it is time to learn rethink current actions to determine how to win more sales?

Increase Sales By Dropping the Excuses, Now!
Are you sales not where you want them to be? Are you finding yourself making reasons why sales are down? Have you considered those reasons are really excuses in disguise?

Want more sales? Who doesn’t? Have you considered introducing new products or services to demonstrate that you are truly listening to your loyal customers?
Want more sales? Who doesn’t? Have you considered introducing new products or services to demonstrate that you are truly listening to your loyal customers?

A Proven Sales Process Should Educate First, and Entertain a Distant Third
Are your marketing activities focused on wining and dining your potential customers or educating them? Today, education must come first beginning with your own education and then educating your customers.

Increase Sales by Demonstrating Appreciation through High Business Ethics
Are you appreciative of your loyal customers and those business interactions that increase sales? Do your customers know that you are appreciative? If you answered yes to the second question, how do you know this to be true?

Increase Sales by Selling Sustainable Solutions that Deliver Measurable Results instead of Benefits
Are you still selling benefits? Do you want to increase sales? Then consider selling sustainable solutions that deliver measurable sales results.

Increase Sales by Identifying Your Target Market and Stop Spraying and Praying Your Sales Activities
Do you feel that you are not getting your fair share of the market place? If so, then can you answer exactly how big of a piece of the pie is that fair share? Now is the time to rethink and refocus so that you accurately know your target market.

Increase Sales by Focusing on Qualified Prospects Who Turn into Loyal Customers
Are you tired of wasting your time prospecting for new sales? Do you find yourself meeting a lot of tire kickers? Then why not invest more time in disqualifying potential customers so that you can increase sales?

Are Canadian Small Businesses Swimming or Treading Water?
Canadian Business Expert talks about getting businesses to the next level

#1 Reason Entrepreneurs Fail (And What to Do About It)
Whenever entrepreneurs get into trouble with their companies, there are many things they can focus on to “fix” it, but there really is only one that trips them up. Always. Learn what it is and what to do about it when it happens to you.

The Lack of Professional Courtesy Is the New Business Behavior
Are you a small business owner, sales professional, C-Level executive or front line worker? What are your top major complaints as you travel the roads to greater business be it locally or globally?

Increase Sales by Telling a Compelling Story
Do you have a compelling story to share within your target market? Learn how to create one and the value that such a story brings.

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis
How do you best set yourself and your business up for the current financial Tsunami??

THE ART OF THINKING
Good thinking requires discipline. It requires discipline not to allow distractions to interrupt our thinking. It requires a disciplined mind that does not allow stray thoughts to hijack the process and carry us away so that we end up daydreaming rather than thinking.

Become A Publisher With A Franchise Business Opportunity
A career in publishing can sometimes be a tough nut to crack, but with a franchise business in printing and publishing, you can enter this exciting industry with the help and experience of a franchise that has developed and perfected their system and is ready to help you do the same.

5 Simple Steps To Forecasting Your Sales

One common goal of most small business owners is to grow their sales. The trick is, most aren't sure quite how to go about doing it. One of the things we work on in our business coaching practice is to find simple and practical ways for business owners to run their business better. When it comes to sales, the best place to start is with a sales forecast. Forecasting your sales for the remainder of the year isn't as difficult as you might think. Here are 5 simple steps to forecasting your sales:

5 Small Business Franchises For The Teacher At Heart

If you have the heart of a teacher, but never saw yourself in the traditional K-12 system, a small business franchise in coaching or tutoring may be right up your alley. These franchises will highlight your teaching skills as you train students one-on-one or teach large groups of businessmen and women how to operate their business as efficiently as possible. Here at the 5 best small business franchises available for the teacher at heart.

The Fatal Mistake Most Entrepreneurs Make and How You Can Avoid Them

Lack of time is the most common complaint I hear from entrepreneurs and small business owners. So if that's the key challenge why is it so difficult for them to overcome it? Some time ago I used the services of a mortgage broker who in the first instance was very prompt and appeared very efficient. Although it took some time for the refinance to go through (that was caused by the bank and their legal people), all went smoothly.

Small Business Interview Series – Executive Coaching, Team Building and Leadership Development
Coaching is a great way for small business owners to develop leadership skills, build strong teams and grow their organizations. In this installment of the small business interview series, I speak with leadership and learning specialist Tammy Dewar, Ph.D., Principal at Calliope Learning in Victoria, B.C.

Develop a Millionaire Mind in Business

Nothing happens by chance. Good or bad, what occurs to us is the direct result of our most prominent thoughts. We think all the time, and, in many cases, we do it without even realizing that thousands of thoughts pass through our minds constantly. Success in business is directly related to the mental images that you hold in your mind about yourself (your abilities, talents, capabilities, worthiness, etc), your business, your customers, your competitors and, of course, money.

Hurtling towards the next big birthday
A personal reflection coming up to birthday time. What prompted this article? Air-journeys provide invaluable thinking space. This article started life on a flight to Helsinki in early June. The two-hour flight from Heathrow provided me with just about the right amount of time for a brief helicopter-view of my world.

Coaching for Small Business Owners

Business coaching is a relatively new discipline. As a result, many small business owners are probably not aware of the coaching process and why they might consider coaching as a resource to fuel their business growth and personal leadership development. What benefits can a coach bring to you and your small business? Will a coach help you become more effective in the day to day management of your small business? What specific skills or experience should you look for in a business coach? How do you find a business coach?

Is your "Fire" for Business Going Out?
As with career choices, sometimes our business choices change and what once excited and motivated us no longer has the same appeal. Do we stick with it anyway, get rid of it, or try to change it?

Hard Work Never Made anyone Rich!
The Lessons I learnt from a Fallen Tree. What are the two most valuable resources in your business?

7 Reasons Why Business Owners Need a Business Coach
7 Reasons why your business will benefit from having a business coach. 11 Questions to ask yourself and the business coach your interviewing during due diligence. How to make the best match for one of the key business decisions you will make during the life of your business.

5 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Fail to Reach Their Full Potential
Discover the five most common reasons why entrepreneurs have problems building businesses from great ideas. Hiring a business coach helps entrepreneurs to both identify these pitfalls and learn how to overcome them and go on to create successful businesses.

"When the Pupil is Ready the Teacher Will Appear" --Business Coaching 101

Business coaching provides the leader and the organization an opportunity to shift current strategies in a manner that is custom tailored and specifically designed for them. In a time of global competition and information over load, maintaining one’s personal balance while supporting the motivation and direction of the team can become difficult to say the least. Day to day pressures often prevent us from standing back and making a fresh assessment of where we are and what’s the best course to set for tomorrow. Like wise, as the role of the servant leader emerges as a model for greatness, it compels us to seek new ways to refine our business acumen.

Tips for Leadership

Today ethical leadership is more important than ever. The world is more transparent and connected than it has ever been. The actions and philosophies of organisations are scrutinised by the media and the general public as never before. This coincides with massively increased awareness and interest of corporate responsibility and related concepts, such as Fair Trade, sustainability, social and community responsibility. The modern leader needs to understand and aspire to leading people and achieving greatness in all these areas.

The Great Value of A Strategic Business Connector According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Powerful business connectors have the ability to open up their networks to connect their clients to virtually anyone who can be helpful to start and grow a business. With the extensive and diverse network I have established over more than 30 years, I have become known as “Your Strategic Business Connector.” A strategic business connector is able to connect entrepreneurs and other business owners to the right people. That can help them establish and grow their businesses. There is great value to being associated with a strategic business connector and that value comes from the following list of strategic accesses they can provide to entrepreneurs and other business owners.

PERSONAL AND EXECUTIVE COACHING

People from all walks of life use Life coaching to discover real freedom in their lives, to uncover their own answers and to unlock their potential. Personal coaching is a holistic process which considers any and all aspects of an individual’s life and situation. A Life coach brings all his or her training and experience to the coaching relationship, to help individuals to overcome conflict, to enhance their communication skills, and build better relationships.

Business Coaching doing what the client finds most important
Most of my clients are business clients. They're looking to make their business more effective, profitable, enjoyable. So we set business goals. But all of my clients take an overview of their life, and we return to that overview periodically. Sometimes, what's important includes other things besides business

Ten Top Business Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Recently I was preparing for a strategic business coaching presentation to a group of business owners and senior management staff members. I had been asked by the host to make sure I had a list of ten top business tips to pass along to the attendees. Reflecting back over the past several years, I tried to recall what I would select as ten of those top tips. After remembering some of the most highly successful people I have worked with as a strategic thinking business coach and/or an executive coach, I thought of what they had told me were some of the most impactful tips I had shared with them. Here are the ten top business tips that I recalled as having the biggest impact on past clients.

10 Strategic Steps To Take To Achieve Your Business Vision, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Highly successful businesses today have developed visions for their organizations and have the vision integrated throughout the company. However, far too many businesses, even some that may be considered successful, have no clear vision and no real plan for the future of the company. There are some people that have a great fear of strategic planning and of developing a clearly defined vision. And sometimes the fear stems from the lack of knowledge of strategic planning and/or confidence that the people and the organization can actually succeed in developing and implementing a sound strategic plan. This fear and the lack of confidence can be minimized by following strategic steps I have used and that my clients have used through strategic thinking business coaching. Here are 10 recommended strategic steps to follow.

Business Advisors: Results Are the Top Priority
If you want to set your consulting and coaching practice apart, you should be able to explain exactly the results you get for clients — and those results should be compelling. But what exactly are results?

The Business Coaching Perspective

Often I am asked general questions around coaching, so I thought I would be a good idea to commit a few columns to some general education about Business & Life coaching, from my perspective. As you may remember from some of my prior columns, I define marketing as “the constant education of your target audience.” I remind you of this, so you understand that I am not deliberately marketing to you through this educational piece.

Time Management Must Be Connected to Your Goals
Have you taken a time management training course? Did you need to take another? Maybe it is because of the lack of this strategy.

Do You Know the Top 7 Question to Ask When Hiring a Business Coach?
Hiring a business coach is your most recent decision. What questions should be part of that interview process?

Do You Know the Top 7 Reasons Why Business Coaches Real Estate Agents Share Similar Failure Rates
Are you a business coach or real estate agent? Then read on to learn what you have in common with each other?

Business Coach or Executive Coach: These are the Top 7 Reasons Why You Need A Pricing Schedule
Are you a business coach or executive coach? Do you have a pricing schedule? If your goal is to increase sales, maybe this is the place to start.

How to Become the #1 Author in an Internet Article Marketing Category in 7 Steps
Internet article marketing demands a combination of strategies beyond just submitting articles. Learn how you can become number one in a given article writing category.

Success Demands You Must Go Where You’ve Never Gone Before by Doing What You’ve Never Done Before
Do you want success? What does that mean for you?

Take Your Business to Where It Has Never Gone Before By Using a Business Coach or Executive Coach
To do you want sustainable business growth? Maybe you need to learn the value that business coaches bring to the table.

Business Coaching As A Valuable Asset For You and Your Business

The challenges facing business owners and senior mangers seem to get more complex each year. And these challenges call for additional resources and tools to deal with the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities that lie within each challenge. One of the most valuable assets for business owners and their management team members is the strategic thinking, strategic planning and independent, unemotional and unbiased outside advice from a strategic thinking business coach. A business coach in today's business world can be a very valuable asset for business owners.

SEO Success - Creating Authority
Keywords create relevance to your topic or website purpose and Google will need to find your site relevant if you want top positioning. Again, content needs to reflect the theme of your website.

6 Step Formula to Creating Your Own Coaching Sales Copy
Creating copy for your website, blog and marketing materials does not need to be hard! Even a 12 year old can do it! These six steps can take you from "clueless" to a writing/copy machine. Don't wait - get started now!

Are You Growing to Quickly Horizontally
Horizontal growth means working to make your organization wider and wider by opening more and locations. It means development of your customer base by going after more and more new business. It means building your network by going to more and more events held by different organizations. It means building more new products, offering more new services, doing everything for everyone you can.

Lessons from Christopher Columbus and Steve Jobs for Your Career
There is a time and a place in your career when you just know. You know something or you see something and no one else does. It may be a solution to an ongoing problem. It may be the resolution to a bottleneck in a manufacturing process. You might have a connection in another company who if partnered with your company would both greatly benefit. What do you do?

Social Networking – Are You Crazy YET?
How are you skills in the area of social networking? Are you thinking you don't know enough? Are you thinking others know so much more? Remember, it is networking - relax. Learn more here.

Business Coaching & Business Consulting – are they the same?

One other place where there is confusion is in the mixed up of what business coaching and business consulting mean. I guess this is the case because business consulting came in much earlier. Business leaders have been using business consultants to help them succeed and grow in their business. Only lately in the last decade, business coaches appear in the scene. Now this growing trend is unstoppable. This makes it necessary to distinguish them. So what is the difference between them? Or, are they the same? I feel many are not clear on this. This article is to clear this.

C-Level Relationship Selling – How to Differentiate When Selling
Differentiating is a good talking point, but it doesn’t close sales. Showing you’re competent does. Use numbers, names and details to show your difference makes you competent in what matters to the C-Level buyer.

C-Level Relationship Selling – Good Work Won’t Win the Next Sale
To win sale after sale from the same customer, you must do more than good work. You must let buyers know what it took to make it good. You must associate yourself with the winning solution and prove that you’re special. Read and learn how.

Business Coach Training
It seems as if every day a new business coach training program springs into existence. What is the difference between all of them? How do you determine which is both the best – and the best for you? How do you now which one will take you as far as you want to go? This article is here to help set the record straight and help you find the coaching school that is right for you.

Persistence Will Make This Your Greatest Year Ever
The new year is upon us and I want us all to hit the road running and knowing that this will be the greatest year ever for us. Whatever happened last year is now done. We cannot change it, hopefully we have learned some lessons from it and are ready to roll forward. Ready to hit the road running with strong and totally driven “persistence”.

Success Requires Discipline
So you have spent the last week working and getting to understand persistence and are now ready to roll forward with discipline. I think one thing you may just have learned, persistence requires discipline. But you will now also learn that discipline requires persistence.

A Small Business Revolution
It is not the government but rather the small business entrepreneur that holds the critical key solution to the continuing economic uncertainty... A Small Business Revolution!

The Truth About Who Can Really Motivate A Person According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

One of my executive coaching clients was talking with me about how complacent and apathetic his employees had become and how lackluster the company’s performance has been this year, compared to the potential that really exists within the staff. This led us into a discussion about whether a leader should be held accountable to, and for that matter, should the leader be expected to “motivate” others. And our discussion led us to agree that it is not the leader’s job to motivate the staff. What? Did that surprise you when you read that? I can imagine that a majority of readers of this article will be surprised. Now, what role does that leave for a leader in business regarding motivation? An effective leader must commit to some primary actions regarding motivation. Here are five (5) actions a leader must commit to do.

Strategic Thinking For Business Owners For Successful Retirement, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Small business owners know that running a small business requires constant attention. They tend to work “in their business” rather than work “on their business.” So, it should be no surprise that too many entrepreneurs and small business owners put their own financial planning squarely at the bottom of their “TO DO” lists. A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for ShareBuilder indicated that 47% of small business owners are not confident that they are prepared for retirement. The survey also shows that 60% of the business owners surveyed have NO PLANS to sell their business to help fund their retirement – but for other owners, such a sale can be a crucial part of a successful retirement plan. Here a list of actions to consider when developing your strategic retirement plan as a business owner.

How To Know When To Fire A Client Or Customer, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

One of the things business owners dread most is firing an employee. Well, there is another dread of business owners that is similar to that and it is the firing of a client or customer. The issue of firing a client or customer, or in other words ”letting go of a client or customer, is a real issue faced by all business owners. And I know from first hand experience that this is true. In my 25 years of business, I have “fired” clients and I have learned the strategic value of doing so. I have realized that not every client is the right or ideal client for me and that I have tried to become much more strategic in prospecting for and selecting my clients. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has developed a list of twelve (12) signals that will let you know that it is time to fire the client or customer and they are:

Success Means Doing What You Do Best

Do what you do best. How many of us try and do everything instead of doing what we do best? A great line I picked up from the biography of Steve Jobs. If it wasn't for Steve, Woz's great innovation would just be in a hobby shop some place. I want you to really think about that. Woz was the expert engineer, but Steve was the expert marketer. Each did what they did best. The result of course is history – Apple. The point we need to take with us today is simply this – we need to let our people do what they are really good at and find someone else to do what they are not very good at. By doing this we create tremendous unbelievable success.

How To Know You Are Ready For Business Coaching According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Business coaching has become very prevalent in today’s business world. So, what is business coaching? One definition I like is that business coaching is a collaborative, professional relationship that assists and guides individuals, entrepreneurs, professionals, executives, and small business owners to manage and grow their business in an organized manner. The business coach can be a confidant, a strategic advisor, sounding board, creativity partner, an accountability source and a guide. A business coaching alliance is a strategic and proactive business tool that will add value and will build help build your personal and business success. Are you ready for business coaching? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of situations that indicate you could be ready to benefit from business coaching:

What It Takes To Be A Successful Small Business Owner, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Did you ever wonder why some small business owners are so successful and are always steadily growing their business, as compared to others who constantly struggle to manage and grow their business? In my research and in reflecting on my own business coaching experiences I have found that there are several key characteristics of successful small business owners. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following list of ten (10) key characteristics that describe the successful small business owner.

What It Takes To Be A Successful Small Business Owner, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

How A Business Coach Can Help Entrepreneurs According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

In the United States there are over 250,000 new small businesses started each year. Entrepreneurs start many of these businesses. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners are highly skilled, very intelligent and highly motivated. They love a challenge and are willing to take risks. In my business coaching practice I have also found that the majority of the entrepreneurs that are clients have had no formal business education. In other words, they typically have had no training in running a business. And so, they start their businesses and things start to go in the wrong direction. It is not uncommon for them to experience many problems and challenges, which provide the opportunities for assistance from business coaching. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach shares how entrepreneurs can be helped by business coaching.

How A Business Coach Can Help You Build Success, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

The professional services of a business coach are really very similar to that of an athletic coach. One major difference though is that business coaching is undertaken for the benefit of a business or an organization. Business coaching focuses on improving individual performance and on improving team performance. And with improved individual and team performance comes success. But how can a business coach help your build success in your business? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers a few thoughts.

Twelve Tips For Strategic Business Communications According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Have you ever thought about the millions, no lets make that billions, of communications that take place each day in the world of business? We have e-mail, IMs, cell phones, PDAs, iphones, direct face-to-face communications in meetings, and on and on and on. Communication is taking up more and more of our time as we conduct business. So, having said that, let me ask you if you believe we really are using our time and communication strategically? And are we really thinking strategically about the most effective forms of communication for each specific situation? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach believes you gain a significant strategic advantage in your business when you think more and act more strategically with your business communications. Here are twelve (12) tips for strategic communications in your business.

C-Level Selling - The Great Customer Experience
C-Level Selling - The Great Customer Experience Happens When the C-Level Executives Are Satisfied. The Great Customer Experience requires making C-level executive constantly feel you are helping them succeed. Learn what’s required in this C-level selling article.

Speed Limits Do Not Reflect Your Capacity

When looking at cars, we all know that speed limits do not really reflect the capacity of how fast our cars can go. They are simply the law of how fast we are allowed to drive without running the risk of getting a ticket. Most of us drive cars with a capacity far beyond what the speed limit is. The same is true in our lives and the same is true about us. Most of us have a capacity far beyond the speed limit that we have imposed on ourselves. Far beyond the speed limit we have put on our business and career. What happens when we look at our capacity? Start to understand what we can really do. Look at all the talent, ability and gifts God gave us? .

C-Level Selling Tips – Keep Competition Out of Your Key Accounts
The only way to keep competition out of your key accounts is to be perceived as the top benefit provider for that key account. Your competition wants those accounts and they will eventually penetrate unless those accounts fear losing the benefits you and only you can provide. This article will show how to make sure that happens

Are You Thinking Too Small?

Great success is about believing that you can do so much more. It is about taking the limits off and letting yourself go after what you really want with a belief you will get it. We have become a nation that settles for less than we can have – thinking way to small. We have allowed the tough times to make us think smaller instead of bigger. We have allow the world to hold us back. We have slowed our thinking so we all are thinking small – that way everyone can keep up.

If You Persist, You will Prevail

How long will you stick with it? How long will you put up with all the work and struggle and pain? How long will you persist? Great question that so many successful business owners have to deal with. How long do you keep going? If you are still going, then you have persistence and you will prevail. So many never make it in business for this simple fact. You see it is so much easier to quit. It is so much easier to just stop and get a job. It is so much easier to find something else to do. But the real entrepreneur, he or she is still going for they know success will come. They know that if you persist, you will prevail.

Benefits of Business Coaching
Business coaching helps businesses make improvements and bring about necessary changes in order to not only perform better, but to also perform at a much higher level and to continually keep growing and expanding.

Joy of Confrontation
Having discussions around managing poor performance can be a very positive process.

Business Coaching and the Power of the Pause
Cara was a manager at a Providence, RI consulting firm who could always be counted on to get the job done. She had a hard-driving style that got results, and her boss recognized how valuable she was to the company. Then one day Cara walked in and discovered she had a new manager, one who didn’t appreciate her take-no-prisoners approach. Suddenly, what was once applauded was now being penalized.

Your Mastermind Group What You Dont Have One
No matter what business legend you think of, it is 100% certain that he or she absolutely did not act alone, and had at their disposal the hearts and brains of a group of likeminded souls who were out to help each other succeed. You will not succeed unless you know how to form and work with your own mastermind group.

Twelve Strategic Leadership Actions To Fire Up Your Employees During Change

Many people and their companies they work for fear and resist change. Some literally detest any change. It is very important to realize that with the application of some solid strategic thinking, change can be a catalyst to energize and fire up your employees. One needs to recognize that change has the ability to open doors, hears and minds that otherwise may remain closed and/or locked forever. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach is a change agent and has learned many lessons from coaching through change. After reviewing those lessons learned from the business coaching experience, here are twelve (12) strategic leadership actions recommended to fire up your employees during change.

Ten Strategic Actions To Improve Sales Staff Productivity

How effective is your sales staff? Are they a high performance team, a mediocre performance team or a woefully “underachieving” and blatantly poor performance team? If you have mediocre, underachieving or poor sales people, what are you doing to change that? If your sales staff is not effective, not performing to its potential and is in need of improved performance, Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers ten (10) strategic actions to take to change that.

An 8-Step Strategic Marketing Approach For New Business From Former Clients

How much of your marketing effort is dedicated to marketing and obtaining new clients or customers? Are you devoting your entire marketing effort to find new clients? Or are you using some strategic thinking and developing a strategy to get back in touch with former clients to gain new business from them? It has always intrigued me in my business coaching and business consulting practices that so many businesses give very little effort to or totally ignore past clients and customers that are no longer active. Former clients and customers can be the best source of new business for you. With this in mind, Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following 8 strategic steps to gain new business from your former clients and customers by building an effective contact program.

How to Get What You Want in Work and Life

Many of my life coaching and business coaching clients express a certain dissatisfaction and ineffectuality in both their professions and their personal lives. A feeling that yes, their credentials and accomplishments appear impressive on paper. And yet, somehow they are removed from the entire situation... almost a spectator, as events unfold that they have little to no control over. Why is this? How can a grown individual who has clearly "made it" in the traditional sense, hold the belief that they have no say in what happens to them? Is this an imagined perception? Or is it really true that other people are calling the shots while they sit there in passive acceptance?

Ten Top Tips To Achieve Work and Personal Life Balance - From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

In today’s fast paced, hectic, challenging and sometimes crazy world, it is so easy to be consumed by our work and to neglect -or worse – forget our personal life. As a strategic thinking business coach, this topic is standard fare for my work with clients. Many times, the balance of work and personal life becomes a high priority coachable goal. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers ten top tips, from a personal and a business coaching perspective on how to achieve balance in your work and personal life.

Ten Top Tips To Achieve Work and Personal Life Balance - From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Ten Major Mistakes To Avoid In Your Web Site Design

Business web sites are very effective business tools if they are planned and designed carefully and strategically. Too many times business owners become fascinated with all the “technological gimmicks” and forget about the content and the ease of use of the visitor to the web site. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach wants to encourage all businesses with web sites to avoid some major mistakes and offers the following list of ten major mistakes to avoid in the design of your web site.

Ten Top Cures For The Deadly Disease of Marketing Apathy In Your Business

There is a dreaded and deadly disease embedded in too many businesses today. What is it? It is called APATHY or more specifically MARKETING APATHY. It is highly contagious and has become widespread among businesses. The symptoms of this disease are: lack of interest; lack of motivation; satisfaction with the status quo; lack of passion; complacency; passiveness; lack of follow-up and follow-through; and a general disregard for marketing activities. These symptoms create a formidable barrier to the success of you and your business. If you or others in your business suffer from any of these symptoms, then Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach urges you to try one or more of the top ten cures for MARKETING APATHY immediately!

Thirteen Strategic Actions To Achieve A Positive, Proactive and Prosperous Life

At each business coaching session or Strategic Planning Team meeting, I always ask clients to share a positive business & personal experience they have had since our last meeting. Most times my clients readily share something, but sometimes they hesitate or struggle to think of something positive to share. This experience of witnessing their hesitancy and/or their struggle with my request has been extremely eye-opening and valuable to me as a business coach. It has provided me with an opportunity to coach them on how to achieve a positive, proactive and prosperous life and to recognize the many positive things that surround them everyday, which they may be taking for granted or not recognizing. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach developed the following list of strategic actions to achieve that positive,proactive & prosperous life.

Thirteen Strategic Actions To Achieve A Positive, Proactive and Prosperous Life

Proven Principles for Profitability In Your Business
How profitable is your business? Are you truly developing and running a profitable business? Is your business organized to grow as a profitable business? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has some principles to share with the business owners and managers who either could not answer the questions or had a negative response. These proven principles for profitability in your business include:

How To Show Appreciation To Your Clients Without Breaking Your Budget

Let's face it, we know that our clients and customers like to feel appreciated by us. Yet, too often, we neglect to seize an opportunity to show appreciation to our clients and customers. And how many times do we use the excuse that we do not have money in our budget to do something special for them? What a non-strategic thinking and short-sighted view that thinking presents. What about the life time value of our clients and customers? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach is letting you know that you do not have to spend a significant amount of money to show appreciation to your clients and customers and see a good return on your investment from increased satisfaction and loyalty. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers ten (10) positive and proactive actions to do show that appreciation without significant costs.

Ten Commitments to Ethics and Personal Conduct For Business Coaches – From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Business coaching remains a rapidly growing profession and one of the impacts of this rapid growth is more scrutiny of the profession. There have been some predictions that business coaching and other forms of coaching will experience increased criticism. This criticism may come in many different forms and today’s professional business coach needs to be able to recognize the criticism and the opportunity or opportunities that result from that criticism. One of the areas of criticism revolves around ethics and personal conduct and it is essential that these two items receive the highest priority in the business coach’s practice. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following Ten Commitments to Ethics and Personal Conduct to help turn the criticism into compliments.

Micro Entrepreneurs Need to Go Global

When we hear or read about globalization, we often think of medium to large companies that have the right products and financial resources to either export, set up factories in foreign countries, or hire salespeople or outsourced workers overseas. As “micro entrepreneurs” who own small businesses with 0 to 10 employees, we may not think globalization has much to offer us. We don't equate the power of our websites and internet marketing with going global.

What is the Cost of Not Having a Strategic Plan
Strategic planning is a necessary element for business success. What is the cost to your business by not having a strategic plan?

Top 7 Tips in Selecting an Executive Coach, Corporate Coach or Business Coach
How does one select an executive coach, corporate coach or business coach in this rapidly expanding industry? These 7 tips may help simplify this up and coming business strategy.

Not Hiring a Business Coach, Executive Coach or Corporate Coach is Costing You Thousands of Dollars
Hundreds of business owners to executives have hired coaches. What do they know that you do not know?

2007 May be the Break Out year for Business Coaching
Are you in the coaching business? Read about the good news if you are a business coach, executive coach or corporate coach.

How to chose an Executive Coach that’s right for you
Six key areas to explore before you chose an Executive Coach to work with.

Why Use a Business Coach for Business Development?
As business owners and managers we find ourselves thrust into our position through what is commonly referred to as “Promotion into Incompetence”. We move up through the ranks or start our own businesses based on our technical skills. Little consideration is given to the actual (non technical) skills and mindset required to manage people and run a business effectively.

“Strategic Benefits of Business Coaching, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach ”

There is a rapid growth of business coaching in the United States and those people who have business coaches are realizing some strategic personal and business benefits. These people are gaining an understanding of what is possible for them and their business through business coaching. These growing numbers of people that have business coaches are reaping the strategic benefits of business coaching. Some of these strategic benefits that are being realized, according to your strategic thinking business coach, include:

How To Strategically Raise Your Warm List To Your Hot List, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

How strategic are you in your marketing efforts? Are you using strategic thinking in the development of a strategic marketing plan for your business? Are you still frustrated by having too few “hot list” prospects? Too many businesses are not being very strategic in their marketing & therefore are wasting energy, time, talent and resources. I hear more and more about “warm lists” for prospects. Why not "hot lists?" Without forgetting or dismissing “warm lists,” look at how to strategically raise the “warm lists” to “hot lists.” To raise the temperature of your prospect list, consider the use of strategic thinking & planning, your ideal client profile and your “warm list” of prospects in the following method from your strategic thinking business coach to create your "hot list" of prospects.

How To Strategically Develop Your Ideal Client Profile, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

Do you use strategic thinking in your marketing efforts? Do you strategically develop a profile of the clients and customers you want to do business with before you start contacting prospects and clients? My experience indicates that the strategic development of an ideal client profile and the development of a most desired client list is woefully underutilized and therefore a great deal of energy, time, talent and money is being wasted in marketing efforts. An deal client profile used as a “filter” to evaluate prospects, instead of thinking everyone is a prospect and chasing too many non-productive leads, will also help you design your marketing message, contact method, call to action and follow-up strategies.

Twelve Tips For Home Builders For More Strategic Marketing From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

All businesses need to use strategic thinking & planning in all aspects of their business, especially in their marketing efforts. In working with custom home builders as a business coach, I discovered only a few of them ever recognized the value of being strategic thinkers & planners and had limited themselves to low levels of success. Fortunately, after they opened their minds to being more strategic, their outlook changed and they started putting some tips on strategic marketing to good use. One of the most vivid and remarkable examples was one custom home builder that went from one of their worst years in business to a record setting best year in business after committing to a strategic marketing approach. From that experience, your strategic thinking business coach offers 12 tips for more effective strategic marketing.

Ten Most Admired Characteristics of Successful Business Coaches, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Do you know what some of the most admired characteristics are of successful business coaches? Recently I was interviewed for an article on business coaching and was asked what I believed to be the most admired characteristics of successful business coaches. Here are the ten (10) characteristics that I shared with the interviewer in response to their question.

Business Coaching Tips For Effective Supervision From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
In today’s workplace there are daily examples of dysfunctional and ineffective supervision. Many people in supervisory roles have not been given the necessary training to be effective supervisors. Here are ten (10) tips from your strategic thinking coach to share with the supervisors in your businesses and organizations.

“Dysfunctional Planning of Goals Facilitates Failure, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”

That age old adage,” If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” may be more true in today’s business world, than at any other time. I have been truly amazed at how many clients I have that will tell me that they never had any kind of business plan, marketing plan, financial plan, strategic plan or any kind of plan, until they met me and starting working with me in a business coaching relationship. And they all shared various forms of challenges, frustrations, issues, etc. with their business. Well, honestly, in the absence of planning or in the presence of dysfunctional planning, the diagnosis is simple as to the reasons for the struggles. So, let me share why I say that dysfunctional planning of goals will facilitate failure. Here are (10) actions to facilitate failure in your business.

“Six Strategic Things To Remember When Requesting Referrals, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”

Referrals are important to most if not all businesses today. In a professional services business, such as business coaching, referrals are a major source of new clients. One of the strategic advantages of referrals is that they tend to be good quality prospects. And another strategic advantage is that they also tend to be relatively easy to convert into clients. Okay, so referrals are a major strategic method of gaining new clients. But, guess what? Only a small percentage of business people adopt referrals as a strategic approach to gaining new clients and those that do adopt the strategy will often neglect the needed commitment of time to generate referrals. There are a few strategic things to remember when requesting referrals from any of the above-mentioned sources. They are ...

Telephone Coaching: Be honest to yourself and your client What do you need to do and know about telephone coaching?
Teleconferencing, telephone coaching..... Telephones have taken an important role in the way we do business and relate to others. I have spent some time looking for a guide or protocol for telephone coaching and could not find anything. I decided to include a session on telephone coaching in my coach training programmes and mentor coaching, this is the result!

What’s Your R.O.U. (Return on You)?
Do you ever wonder about the effectiveness of coaching in your personal or professional life? Coaching is a relatively new industry. However, its effectiveness has been proven time and again. Below are some interesting coaching statistics, powerful quotes and useful information regarding the benefits of coaching.

How Would You Start A Coaching Business?
These days, coaching seems like the way to go. There are new professions linked to coaching: sports coaching, online coaching, personal coaching, fitness coaching, spiritual coaching, business coaching, Solutions coaching and life coaching.

What Coaching Is
Last week I introduced you to coaching and started to outline for you what coaches do and how coaching works. I explained that coaching is an intangible service, that it’s future driven, how important the relationship is between a coach and client, why passion is required from both of them, and how educational coaching can be. Today, I am going to continue with more of what coaching is:

Business Coaching Tagged Articles

Other Business Coaching Related Articles